Bringing Applications to the Enterprise Portal, Michael Richtberg
Application Access in the Digital Economy
In today’s fast-paced global marketplace, the ability to give mobile, distributed workers ready access to the applications and data they need for sound decision-making has become vitally important for businesses striving to be productive, agile and profitable. The popularity of Web-based computing, combined with the need to expedite information access, has spurred adoption of enterprise portals. In their fullest manifestation, these company Web sites aggregate, personalize and serve applications, data and content to users, while offering management tools for organizing and using information more efficiently. In some companies, portals have replaced the desktop, providing a virtual workplace with the ease, convenience and ubiquity of browser-based access. Portals also deliver ROI benefits from faster, easier information access, including increased worker productivity, more effective decision-making and greater IT efficiency.
True desktop replacement means a portal needs to offer a full complement of information resources. Business applications are, arguably, the most vital category of information that workers need to access for planning, decision-making and execution. They also typically represent a major investment—and often a competitive advantage—that the corporation should continue to use when moving to a Web-based system. From the standpoint of productivity, application access via the portal is needed so users are not forced to switch back and forth between the browser and the desktop to do their work. With a split browser/desktop system, it is more difficult to locate and coordinate material from various sources. Users are also typically tied to the desktop device because it provides key applications that may not be accessible via the browser.
All these business drivers make a compelling case for including existing and upcoming applications in the portal implementation. However, to date, few applications have been developed specifically for Web-based delivery. Although it is possible to use existing applications by re-engineering them for Web publication using HTML, scripting, Java and other proprietary means, this approach is time-consuming and expensive, and may delay portal implementation. Likewise, these implementations may have reduced interactivity or may not be feasible because the “download and run” model is too resource-intensive.
How can interactive, legacy applications be Web-enabled for inclusion in enterprise portals without requiring re-engineering that can significantly delay and/or dilute ROI from the portal implementation? And how can these applications be more efficiently managed, deployed and supported to augment the cost benefits of a portal?
Server-based Application Delivery and Management The most compelling answer to the second question is server-based computing, a key enabling technology for portal implementations that also reinforces the portal concept of information aggregation. Analogous to an enterprise portal, which centralizes comprehensive information resources and serves them via a Web browser, server-based computing centralizes applications on a server and deploys them to users via a single interface. Just as an enterprise portal improves user productivity through single-point information access, a server-based architecture enhances the overall efficiency of a portal solution through single-point application administration.
In the server-based computing model, application processing, administration, support and deployment are based 100% on a central server. Users view and work with the application interface, sending keystrokes and mouse movements over the network to the server and receiving screen updates, files and other data. Because processing takes place on the server, any device becomes a thin client and only minimal data travels across the network, resulting in greatly improved application performance and security.
This architecture enables application access on virtually any device, including wireless and handheld communication devices and information appliances, running on a wide array of platforms. Device and platform flexibility helps to fulfill the promise of Web computing as the ideal model for today’s mobile workers, who can move seamlessly from one device to another and receive a consistent, personalized information set, including applications.
Citrix Systems, Inc. offers server-based computing products that help organizations gain efficiency and reduce Total Cost of Application Ownership (TCA). When used in conjunction with a portal solution, Citrix® MetaFrame™ application server software reduces costs for portal administrators by enabling centralized application rollout, personalization, administration and security. Specifically, Citrix application serving technology delivers cost benefits by:
Reducing TCA through single-point management. Citrix centralizes application administration, support and deployment, enabling IT staff to implement rollouts and upgrades and conduct troubleshooting and training from the server farm rather than having to visit each desktop. Speeding up ROI on new applications. Users are able to access new applications and upgrades as soon as they are installed on the server.
Permitting the most diverse set of client platforms to benefit from the portal. Citrix Independent Computing Architecture (ICA®) technology, which provides the architecture underlying the Citrix application serving environment, supports Windows®, Macintosh®, UNIX® and Web operating platforms. This allows users to continue using their current devices, or choose inexpensive thin devices.
Supporting application deployment via any connection, with minimal bandwidth demands. The advent of wireless communication devices that incorporate Web browsers will undoubtedly generate user demand for portal access. Citrix ICA enables application access over wireless networks as well as more traditional wired LANs and WANs with very low bandwidth requirements.
Fast Web-enablement of Applications Delivers Immediate ROI Returning to the first question about how to adapt legacy applications for portal-based access, there is a unique product that helps companies quickly launch comprehensive enterprise portals—and quickly begin reaping their benefits—by Web-enabling existing Windows, UNIX and Java™ applications without rewrites. With this approach, applications are not converted to HTML or another language; rather, they are delivered in their original form with full functionality intact. In addition, the user interface remains the same, so there is no need for user retraining on the application. Organizations can also tailor the applications each user receives, and personalize the browser and content around these applications.
This product, Citrix NFuse™ application portal software, works with Citrix MetaFrame to deliver existing, interactive, server-based applications via a portal. While MetaFrame provides server-side command and control of applications, NFuse instantly “Webifies” those applications, helping to create a central, online virtual workplace that promotes user efficiency and leverages a company’s investment in proprietary and off-the-shelf applications.
In short, this Web-enablement technology allows companies to immediately begin receiving both tangible and intangible returns on their portal implementation. With NFuse as a key part of their portal solution, customers can:
- Continue to use the business applications they have already spent money to acquire/develop. Citrix application servers support Windows, UNIX and Java applications, enabling NFuse to provide portal-based access to the most widely used business and productivity solutions. Companies can “reuse” critical business solutions on the Web instead of paying to replace them;;
- Instantly integrate and publish virtually any application into a standard Web browser while retaining full application interactivity and eliminating time-consuming, costly application rewrites;;
- Avoid user retraining on existing applications because the user interface stays the same;
- Personalize the delivery of applications to individuals or groups based on login identity;
- Create a seamless Web environment with an intuitive interface for users by using the same applications they already understand; and;
- Leverage the powerful management and security features of Citrix MetaFrame application server software.;
Support for Corporate Portal Solutions Citrix NFuse supports and complements leading portal solutions, such as the Citrix XPS™ product (via the acquisition of Sequoia Software), giving them the capability to incorporate published interactive applications in their offering. This enables portal solution providers to offer customers comprehensive access to all the tools, information and applications they need. Citrix also supports many other portal products through alliances with the other industry players.
Case Studies Merrill Lynch One of the world’s leading financial management and advisory companies, Merrill Lynch sought a simpler way to provide application access to its Jacksonville, Florida facility’s users when they were working from home, the road and other company offices. Employees were frustrated by the difficulty of connecting remotely, and IT staff was spending an unacceptable amount of effort to configure and support remote desktops.
Merrill Lynch turned to Citrix NFuse to create an intranet-based corporate portal. Interactive applications, including inquiry tracking and email, have been integrated and published to a secure Web site, where they are accessed by more than 500 users via a Virtual Private Network. The personalization capabilities of NFuse allow Merrill Lynch to tailor applications and information to specific users, including partner firms.
The benefits Merrill Lynch has achieved with its NFuse portal include cost and time savings from eliminating remote desktop configuration, improved application access, and the ability to share specialty applications among different offices.
ProTier ProTier, a New Orleans-based Application Service Provider (ASP), offers Independent Software Vendors a customized application hosting solution for their customers. To differentiate itself from other ASPs, ProTier needed to efficiently deploy custom hosted applications to end users via a Web portal. ProTier is using Citrix NFuse to integrate and publish applications to its Web portal from which hundreds of end users access their applications via a Web browser.
Using NFuse benefits ProTier by providing rapid application deployment over the Web without re-engineering, a significant reduction of bandwidth requirements, and successful fulfillment of Service Level Agreements. As ProTier’s exclusive deployment platform, NFuse has greatly improved the ASP’s ability to deploy hosted applications through the Web.
Conclusion Citrix application portal and application serving technologies help make enterprise portals a fiscally attractive proposition for companies. By enabling the reuse of existing applications and infrastructure in the portal environment, offering application access from wireless as well as wired networks and devices, and providing a server-based architecture proven to reduce computing costs, Citrix strengthens the value proposition of portals and makes their implementation easier, faster and more successful.
About Citrix
Citrix Systems, Inc. is a global leader in application serving software and services that extend the virtual workplace everywhere by providing secure, reliable access to applications and information, and a consistent user experience, on any device or network connection. Citrix solutions enable organizations of all types to deliver business applications to users with greater manageability, flexibility and cost-effectiveness. The company’s products, including Citrix MetaFrame application server software, Citrix NFuse application portal software and Citrix Independent Computing Architecture (ICA), a core application serving technology, have been widely adopted by the corporate mainstream to achieve key business goals. More than 100,000 organizations, including 99 of the Fortune 100, use Citrix software. Headquartered in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, Citrix markets its solutions worldwide through value-added resellers, system integrators, consulting firms and OEM licensees. Citrix is traded on The Nasdaq Stock Market SM under the symbol CTXS and is part of the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index.
For more information, please visit the Citrix Web site at Citrix
For information on Citrix NFuse visit: http://www.citrix.com/ products/nfuse/default.asp; Or call 800.427.9269
Citrix®, ICA®, MetaFrame™ and NFuse™ are registered trademarks or trademarks of Citrix Systems, Inc. in the US and other countries. All other trademarks and registered trademarks are the property of their respective owners.